Wagons Ho!

The 61st annual Death Valley 49ers Encampment was held this week at the national park.  This organization holds the annual event to celebrate the spirit of the 1849 gold rush wagon trains that crossed Death Valley. The five day event includes western-style music, an Invitational Western Art Show, craft shows, cowboy poetry, golf and horseshoe tournaments, a pioneer costume contest, 4X4 tours, wagon train and horse parades, community breakfasts and more.

Yesterday was the wagon train parade so we planned our second day at the park to coincide with the parade.  It was an interesting site to see.  I started thinking about what it must have been like for the actual pioneers traveling through this desert.  I’m definitely happy to be a 21st century “pioneer” with my modern “covered wagon”.

Death Valley is the hottest, driest and lowest area in the United States.  Yet, surprisingly there is a creek that flows through part of it.  It’s called Salt Creek and begins at a brackish spring and marsh.  During the heat of the summer, it is mostly dried up except for a small pool at the spring.  Even with the heat, the salt and the evaporation, there is a species of pupfish (The Salt Creek Pupfish) that live only here.  Nature keeps amazing me.

There are a few other spots in Death Valley that have springs creating an oasis.  The main such area is called Furnace Creek with an inn, a few campgrounds, a visitor center and even a golf course.  The springs gush a million gallons of water per day.  That’s enough to provide water for the resort and to allow irrigation of the lowest golf course on earth!  Greens fees for 18 holes with a cart are $67.50.

 

There are a lot of palm trees around the resort.  As we were walking beneath them, we discovered they were date trees.  The ground was covered with dates.  I never really thought about where dates come from.  Now I know.

 

In 2008 Xanterra, the private company that owns Furnace Creek Resort, installed a solar powered energy system.  The one megawatt system covers an area larger than five football fields.  It was installed in the middle of an existing developed area and is screened by vegetation. The solar plant is expected to generate more than one-third of the total annual electricity needs of Furnace Creek Resort by producing more than two million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. That's enough to power more than 400 average-sized American homes.  The picture is from the back of the panels.  They pivot during the day to follow the sun.  I would love to see other companies follow suit and use more solar and wind power!

 

When I pictured a desert, I always thought it looked like the Sahara Desert with miles and miles of sand dunes.  That’s not the case at all in Death Valley.  I certainly never expected to see mountains, but the valley is surrounded by them.  Most of the landscape looks like dirt and gravel with a few sand dunes scattered throughout the valley.

There are a few areas referred to as Badlands formed by erosion with many layers of colors.  We’ve been to the Badlands in North and South Dakota.  I wasn’t expecting to see more in Death Valley.

 

We drove along a very bumpy dirt road to get to the Mosaic Canyon trailhead.  Some of the canyon walls are polished marble.  Everywhere we go, we find new surprises.

 

Our final stop of the day was at the site of the former Harmony Borax Works.  Prospector’s came to Death Valley looking for gold and silver of which they found very little.  They did, however, strike it rich with borax.  The borax was processed on site in Death Valley and then transported through the desert by 20 mule team wagon trains to the railroad over 100 miles away.

This is part of the processing site.

 

 

 

Here is an original wagon train.  Each wagon train carried a water tank for the long trek through the desert.

This interpretive sign shows one of the 20 mule team wagon trains.  I so remember the commercials for 20 Mule Team Borax when I was a kid :)

We plan to go back to Death Valley for one more day.  There is so much to see!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Holstein Cows in the Desert?

Being from Wisconsin, we are very used to seeing Holstein cows.  We did not, however, expect to see them in the Mojave Desert in Nevada.

This huge cow stands guard in front of the casino and RV park.  In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s not real.  But don’t worry, there is a very large living Holstein steer here as well.

His name is Herman.  He stands 6’4” tall and weighs 2,800 pounds.  I asked the clerk in the lobby why there are cows out here in the desert.  She said it was a gimmick the owners came up with to get people to stop; something to make the place unique.  I’d say it is definitely a unique feature.  Herman has some friends that live with him.  These two donkeys are full grown so you can see just how big Herman really is.

There’s also a goat and the pond behind the casino is home to several ducks.  I get a kick out of hearing the donkeys braying and the ducks quacking.  It almost feels like being on a farm in Wisconsin, but the weather is much nicer.

There’s something else that seems very unusual about this area.  Other than the casino, there is not much else around here for miles and miles.  There are some mobile homes here and there, but that’s it.  The casino has a little mini-mart.  Otherwise, the closest full-size grocery store is 35 miles away.  The closest gas station is 16 miles away.  The entrance to Death Valley is 8 miles away, but then there are hundreds of miles of roads inside the park.  It’s the largest National Park in the lower 48.

But, I digress.  The other thing I find to be very strange is that there are miles of power poles that seem to go nowhere.  There are dirt roads out in the desert that seem to go nowhere.  We’ve been taking walks along such a road behind the casino.  For miles all along the road there are water pumping stations.  I have no idea where the water is being pumped to.  There’s nothing out there.

I took this picture today while we took our walk on the road behind the casino.  You can see the dirt road along the left side.  The casino is about 2 miles back down the road.  If you look very carefully, you can see the buildings in the center of the picture.  The mountains are much further away.  Do you see the snow on top of the one on the right?  There is just a little snow on that one mountain.  Spaced all along this road are water pumps.  If you look in the other direction, the road keeps going.  We’re not sure how far it goes, but eventually there are mountains that are part of Death Valley.  That’s it.  There’s nothing else out there.   Strange!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge Revisited

On Tuesday we went back to Ash Meadows to check out some more springs.  The first time we went it was quite hot out, and we didn’t feel like walking on all three of the boardwalks that lead to springs so we only did one.

This week the weather is cooler so we went back for another look.  The refuge is home to several endangered species of pupfish found only here. 

We walked along a very nice boardwalk to King’s Pool to see the Ash Meadows Amargosa pupfish.  They are only about an inch long.  The males are bright blue, and the females are green.

It’s just the strangest thing.  You’re driving through the desert, and suddenly there’s one of these springs.  Here’s what the landscape looks like.

The refuge is called Ash Meadows because Leather Leaf Ash trees used to be prominent trees here along with Mesquite.  Most trees had been cut down for farming and ranching.  The refuge has been replanting them.  The ash trees are pretty in their fall color.

The refuge is about 20 miles from Death Valley National Park.  For some strange reason there is a small section of the refuge that’s actually part of Death Valley.  The area is called Devil’s Hole.  When we got to it, there was a gate across the road with a sign saying it could only be accessed on foot.  The path was short, and when we got up there we were quite surprised by what we found.  There’s a hole in the ground filled with water that looks like part of a cavern.  There is a fence around the entire area with razor wire on the other side of the fence.  They really don’t want anyone going down into that water.

After reading through the information, I discovered that Devil’s Hole is home to the endangered Devil’s Hole Pupfish which are estimated to have been in existence for 10 to 20,000 years.  There are only a few hundred left, and they are only found here.  There is  a great deal of research being done at this site to try and save these fish.  It’s really quite interesting.

One of the boardwalks leads to the Longfellow Spring.  The spring is named after Jack Longfellow and his cabin has been reconstructed at its original location next to the spring. Jack came to the area in the late 1800s and became infamous as a prospector, gunman, gambler and horse breeder.  It sounds like he was quite a character.  The casino we are staying at is named Longstreet Casino.

One of the things I really like about this lifestyle is the ability to discover places we would never have had time for in our old life.  The Ash Meadows Refuge is definitely one of those places.  We are truly out in the middle of nowhere, yet here’s this amazing place. 

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Wind, Wind and More Wind!

We’ve had the most beautiful weather this fall, but the last two days have not been very nice.  Wind bothers me more than any other kind of bad weather.  I’ll take cold, cloudy or rainy any day over high winds.  Of course warm and sunny is my favorite :)

Since Saturday night it has been super windy.  The slide toppers are noisy when it’s this windy.  The wind itself is noisy.  The trailer shakes a little bit.  The worst part is I can’t sleep with the wind noises.  Last night I pulled in the big slide and slept on the couch.  Or I should say I tried to sleep.  The couch is a bit short for me so my legs were falling asleep.  I wish the rest of me would have :)

When we bought this unit, we didn’t realize that you couldn’t sleep on the bed with the bedroom slide pulled in.  The bed lifts up when the slide is pulled in so it doesn’t hit the dresser across from it.  I can’t sleep in the bed with the slide topper flapping around.  The good news is the wind is supposed to die down for tonight.  If not, earplugs and a Tylenol PM might be needed.

The clouds that have been zooming by did help create any amazingly beautiful sky last night.

Yesterday was football day and today we stayed home.  We did talk an hour long walk around noon during a lull in the windy weather.  Kevin started washing the outside of the trailer, and I got out the sewing machine and worked on some of my sewing projects.  Nothing too exciting.

I did add a page to the blog yesterday for Campground Reviews.  I post a review of each campground we’ve stayed at on the RV Park Reviews website.  I use that site all the time when looking for a place to stay.  I thought it might be helpful to have a page on my blog to review the campgrounds as well.  Hopefully, it will be useful for some people.

I also changed the look of the blog a little bit.  I’m playing around with background colors.  My text background color used to be light blue.  I liked the color, but found that most of my pictures are taken outside.  My background color seemed too close to the sky color in many of the pictures.  I’m hoping the new color makes the pictures pop a bit more.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Scotty’s Castle

Yesterday we drove to the north end of Death Valley National Park to take a tour of Scotty’s Castle.  What an interesting place in the middle of the desert!

This home was built between 1922 and 1931 as a vacation home by Albert and Bessie Johnson.  You’re probably wondering why is it then called Scotty’s Castle.  The story could easily be right out of a novel. 

Walter Scott “Scotty” was quite a character.   In the early 1900s he was selling shares in a gold mine that didn’t exist.  As investors in the west grew wise to him, he expanded his search to other cities.  He convinced Albert Johnson of Chicago to invest in his fictitious gold mine.  After two years of no returns, Albert decided to visit Scotty in Nevada to see the mine.  He never did see a mine, but he fell in love with Death Valley and found Scotty to be very entertaining.  Albert decided to build a vacation home in the desert.  By the time he was finished, he had spent 2 million dollars. 

Scotty stayed with the Johnson’s at their home when they came to Nevada.  He told many stories to their guests including the fact that he owned the home and Albert was his banker.  The Johnsons went along with the story so the press wouldn’t bother them.

Albert used his engineering background to build the home with electricity, indoor plumbing, an electric refrigerator, and all the newest innovations of the time.  He used water from a nearby spring to create the electricity.  I was amazed by the many modern conveniences in a house build in the 1920s!

The National Park Service offers two tours at the house.  One tour is of the inside of the house and the other is an underground tour in the tunnels under the house to see how everything worked.  Both tours were very informative and enjoyable. 

Here’s a view of the entire compound including a cook house, guest house, a clock tower and stables.  It’s set in a valley surrounded by mountains on all four sides.

The Johnsons enjoyed music so they built a music room at the cost of $200,000.  The main instrument was a pipe organ.  Neither one of them could play the instruments, so they had paper rolls of music which played the organ and piano.  We were given a demonstration of the instruments playing, and it was quite impressive. 

This is the main living room.

 

 

 

The Johnsons lost a lot of money during The Depression so they were not able to finish all of the projects they had started including a large swimming pool made to look like a moat at the front of the house.  They also began renting out rooms to bring in some revenue.  Some of their guests included President Hoover, Clark Gable, Will Rogers, Betty Grable and Betty Davis.

We were walking along a path on the grounds and we heard a noise.  It sounded like crickets to me.  Kevin looked down and saw a rattle snake under a little bush along the side of the path.  Yikes!!! I’ve never seen a rattle snake other than at the zoo.  I am going to be very careful walking around the desert from now on!!  Can you see his tongue sticking out?

We took a drive up to the Ubehebe Crater.  About 2,000 years ago this volcano blew it’s top and the result was this crater.  It’s the largest such crater in the park.  It’s a half mile across and 500 feet deep.  The explosion spewed rocks over a six square mile area.

A cold front moved through yesterday afternoon.  It was extremely windy and it even rained!  This area is only supposed to get about 3 inches of rain a year.  I think we got a good part of that last night.  It’s much cooler today, only a high of 64.  It’s supposed to be in the 70s this week; perfect!

This morning I saw this little bird sitting on the electric box outside of our window.  I did some research and think it’s a Vermilion Flycatcher, but that’s just a guess.  If anyone knows for sure, please let me know.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

A Jewel In The Desert

We are truly in the middle of nowhere.  The nearest grocery store is 30 miles away.  So who would have guessed that there is a jewel out here in the desert.

It’s called Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.  Few people have probably even heard of it.  It encompasses 23,000 acres of spring-fed wetlands and alkaline desert and was established in 1984 to protect endangered and threatened species.

The visitor center is only about 10 miles from where we are staying.  After seeing some information about it in a brochure, we decided to check it out yesterday.

As we were driving down the road to get there, I just couldn’t imagine there were wetlands anywhere within a hundred miles.  The very nice lady at the visitor center gave us some information and told us to walk down the boardwalk next to the center to see the spring.

As we walked along, there were some information signs.  We learned that the mesquite trees are native to the Mojave Desert, but many had been cleared away for farming and ranching.  The refuge is protecting the trees which provide shelter for many birds.

At the end of the boardwalk we found the amazing Crystal Spring.  The water is crystal clear and just as blue as you would see in the Caribbean.  The trees in the background are mesquite.

Ash Meadows has the greatest concentration of endemic life in the United States.  Endemic means found here and no where else.  Several of the species are endangered.

There are over 30 seeps and springs in the refuge.  The water comes from an underground aquifer system and it supposedly takes thousands of years to move through the earth.  Over 10,000 gallons per minute flow year round.  These are hot springs as the water comes from deep down in the earth. 

One of the main focuses of the refuge is saving the endangered species of pupfish found only here.  They are tiny little fish that feed off the algae in the bottom of the springs and can live in water as warm as 90 degrees.

It was quite warm yesterday so we only checked out the one spring.  There are two more boardwalks to other springs.  We are planning on going back next week.

I saw this cool dragonfly at the spring.  I’ve never seen a red dragonfly before.

 

Last night’s sunset was gorgeous!

 

 

 

It has still been in the 80s each day so we’ve put off going to Death Valley.  Next week is supposed to cool off to highs in the low 70s; perfect for wandering around the desert.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Amargosa Valley, Nevada

On Monday we traveled to Longstreet Casino and RV Resort in Amargosa Valley, Nevada.  I think it’s a stretch calling it an RV resort, but it’s fine for our purposes.  We needed someplace to hang out until December when we head to San Diego and this place was a good bet since it’s not far from Death Valley.

The monthly rate is $10.14 a night which includes a FHU site with 50 amp electric and free wi-fi and cable.  The cable picture is pretty lousy, but all we use it for is local news.  Our local channels from Utah are still working on the DirecTV satellite. 

When we had to change our local channels from Colorado to Utah with DirecTV, we had another customer service fiasco.  It took four people and two days until they got it right.  So, we decided not to call to change the local channels until we have to.  It’s kind of nice because the Utah channels are on mountain time and we’re now on pacific time so everything starts an hour earlier. 

The casino is also a hotel and seems pretty nice.  The casino only has slot machines, no table games.  It is rather smoky, so I don’t plan on spending any time in there.  Behind the building is a pond with a waterfall, gazebo and lots of ducks.  At night there are lights in the trees and the gazebo and it looks so pretty.  The night sky is amazing with tons of stars.

The campground is behind the pond.  It’s a large gravel lot with hook-ups and a few small trees.  We’ve found that to be pretty standard for most campgrounds in the desert. 

That’s us on the left.  There are several campers that belong to employees.  There have been about two or three other RVs here each night.  The lady in the office told me that they get busier when the snowbirds arrive.  There is also a pool and a hot tub that look very nice.  Unfortunately, they’re not open.  At check-in, we were told they are understaffed and don’t have anyone to take care of the pool.  That’s a shame, but at $10 a day, I’m not complaining.

The weather has been fantastic.  Highs have been about ten degrees above average.  Today it was 84 degrees.  Next week is supposed to get back to normal with highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s. 

We walked for about an hour yesterday and walked to California.  It’s only a 1/2 mile from here.  Next week when it’s a little cooler we’ll check out Death Valley National Park which is about 8 miles away.

Today we road our bikes for an hour.  We’re finally someplace that isn’t all hills.  I haven’t ridden a bike (other than a stationary bike while rehabbing) since I tore my ACL from falling off my bike about a year ago.  I have to admit I was a bit nervous and tentative especially on gravel, but I did fine and enjoyed it.

Here’s a view of the mountains behind us at sunrise.  Sunset is quite early at about 5:30 p.m. and I keep forgetting to watch for it.  Tonight I’m going to make sure to watch the sun setting over the mountains.

So, we’re taking it easy doing some little chores and relaxing and enjoying this great weather; back to wearing shorts :)

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!